Blown away by York – as a fan
THE title race of the week at York, the Sky Bet Ebor, is worth a whopping £500,000 this year and is the richest handicap in Europe.
But that’s nothing compared to next year, when the prize will double to £1million, which is really going to make people sit up and take notice around the world.
Today’s renewal looks a tasty one and I fancy last year’s winner NAKEETA
(3.40) to repeat the trick and become the first horse to win back-to-back Ebors for 95 years.
He will have been trained for this race all season and is only 4lb higher than 12 months ago. He’s drawn in
15, three inside from where he was last year and, providing he gets some luck in running, he’s got to be bang there.
ABOVE THE REST (3.00) has got his act together and he could be the one to side with in the Sky Bet City Of York Stakes.
He’s taken a while to come to hand but heads here on a hat-trick, having won over course and distance on his penultimate start.
I would have given Kings Gift a shout in the Sky Bet Handicap, but for a dreadful draw – 19 of 20. We’ve always rated him and he came good at Ayr last time, a performance which I think will have done his confidence the world of good.
This is the first time I’ve been at the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival as a racegoer – and I have been blown away by the experience.
Of course, I’d love to be riding, but being on the sidelines has given me the opportunity to see things from the other side of the rails.
The choice of food and drink options is extensive and terrific value, the facilities for viewing the paddock and the racetrack are second to none, and everyone seems to be loving the whole experience.
And, of course, the quality on the track is exceptional. I don’t think we’ll see many races bursting with such quality as we did for the Juddmonte International on Wednesday and we saw two fabulous fillies in Sea Of Class and Lah Ti Dar on Thursday.
As for my injury, hopefully it’s a case of weeks, rather than months, in terms of my getting back to race-riding.
I’m in a position to start running again soon, which is a good sign.